


Echo Base

by Kablob, mylordshesacactus



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Increasingly Sexual Games Of Chicken, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-23 03:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23237986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kablob/pseuds/Kablob, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylordshesacactus/pseuds/mylordshesacactus
Summary: It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Under the oppressive shadow of Salem, Atlesian troops have driven Mantle's people from their homes and pursue them across the ruined city.Evading the dreaded Atlesian Airfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Robyn Hill has established a new secret base on remote icy tundra.The evil lord Darth Vader—wait, no, this is the wrong script.A frozen underground bunker, a high-stakes mission, and arguments in hallways. It's not a secret rebel base unless there's enough sexual tension to melt the damn ice already.
Relationships: Marrow Amin/May Marigold
Comments: 24
Kudos: 96





	Echo Base

“...and here we are,” said Robyn. She gestured widely with one arm. “Home sweet home.”

May, arms crossed, kept a sharp eye on their prisoner as he stepped past the threshold after Robyn, getting his first look at their base.

Ugh. Fine. _Former_ prisoner. Former prisoner, former AceOp, until recently kept secure out of the cold but far from anything sensitive while Robyn determined his motivations. This was his first time being permitted anywhere near the beating heart of this operation.

Over May’s protests, obviously. She trusted Robyn’s judgement; if Robyn said Marrow Amin was on their side then she was probably right.

Didn’t mean she had to like it.

Marrow carefully took in their surroundings with a military-trained eye, no doubt making mental notes. “Nice setup you have here. Ma’am.”

May snorted.

It didn’t look like much on paper. They were burrowed in behind several tons of stable rockslide, a cut-off and ostensibly inaccessible tunnel under an exhausted SDC mine. No Dust in the walls anymore to risk agitating, and this part was buried so deep the odds were minimal that even Atlesian sensors would ever know they were here through the permafrost.

Of course, there were only two ways in or out. If morale tanked, the Grimm…

Well, the Grimm were a problem anywhere, May thought, shaking herself slightly. Even if there were quite a lot more on the streets of Mantle than normal now...

So it was a dark, frigid hole in the ground, with equipment resting on uneven chunks of rock and wires strung along the walls and across the ceiling from rock-climbing pitons like depressing Solstice lights. They were trying to expand down some of the side passages to fit more residential areas, since it was clear they were here for the long haul; for now, there were still alcoves even in the main ops center stuffed with blankets and wads of clothing. 

But it _was_ impressive, if you had the experience and the brains to know what you were looking at. They’d gotten a lot of essential equipment scared up, sometimes from looting empty electronics stores and sometimes from past or present strikes against Atlas military vehicles and outposts. The place was cold as hell, but not below freezing; Fiona had busted her ass getting just enough heating units down here. It was lit, it was nominally heated, it was secure, and they’d gotten a lot of refugees in with no trace.

Robyn gave a short, mirthless laugh. May’s brow twitched slightly at the very real exhaustion in it, carefully hidden from anyone who didn’t know her as well as her Huntresses. 

“We’re getting there,” she allowed. “White Fang did the hard part of getting it dug out and hidden from the rest of the tunnels, but Beacon happened before they could move in. Lucky for us that Atlas didn’t find this one.”

Marrow flinched at that, a flush creeping up his neck. “Right,” he muttered. “Lucky us.”

Mantle’s White Fang branch had been wiped out nearly to a man, despite the fact that they had absolutely nothing to do with the Fall of Beacon. That was...either just before or just after Marrow had been assigned to the AceOps, actually. May thought it best not to ask.

Robyn coughed, seeming to recognize the awkwardness of the moment. “Anyway, Ironwood will have changed the codes by now, but we could still use your help trying to break into Atlas’ communications network. We need to know what the hell’s going on up there, and we need to know it more reliably than just reading between the lines of the official news stations.”

Marrow nodded. “Of course, ma’am. I take it Doctor Polendina has a setup somewhere in here?”

“Yes,” Robyn answered, before May could get even a single suspicious scowl in. “Farther back in the tunnels.” Her gaze turned to May, and some of that exhaustion vanished in favor of a playful spark. “May, take him down there, will you?”

Whatever May’s face did in response to that _complete and utter betrayal,_ it made Robyn’s lips twitch.

“We’re all making sacrifices, May,” she said drily. “ _I’ve_ got to go sort things out with that smorgasbord of trainee Huntsmen that moved into my living room while I was out.”

Marrow’s tail swished reflexively as he coughed, hiding a smile. When Robyn’s eyes flicked back to him, he started and hastily clasped his hands behind his back again.

“Sorry,” he said hastily. “But they’re, uh...actually licensed, Councilwoman. They earned it. They’re good. At the job, I mean, but they’re—good kids.”

May leaned on the support frame of the tunnel. “Remind me,” she said. “Are these the same _kids_ that—”

 _“Yes,”_ Marrow cut in. “Yes they are.” 

Robyn looked between them with the faint echo of a smile. “I’ll leave you to it.” Then she was gone, treacherously abandoning her most stalwart supporter in her time of need. Bitch. May had no idea why she’d been so worried about her.

Marrow at least looked nervous. Good.

“Fine,” May informed him. “Come on.”

Marrow fell awkwardly into step behind her as they picked their way across the crowded cavern.

“So,” May started brightly. _“The General is trying to help us,_ huh?”

“He was,” Marrow insisted, broad shoulders hunched. “I swear, we were trying to...I don’t know what happened. To him, to Hare…”

“I mean, it’s what Robyn was saying the whole time, but sure.” May gave herself one eyeroll, as a treat. “Oh, wow...I just thought of this, but...do you think maybe...they were _always_ soulless parasites sucking the life out of Mantle for their own benefit?”

That got a glare out of him. “May…”

May scoffed. “What, Robyn gets ma’amed and I don’t?”

“ _Councilwoman Hill_ is a duly-elected representative of the Atlesian people and the only legitimate authority left in the Kingdom,” Marrow insisted. “ _You’re_ just annoying.”

May didn’t know whether to feel pitying or _delighted_ by that particular neurotic cocktail. She settled on, _“Wow.”_

“Shut up,” he muttered.

For about thirty seconds, May indulged him. But a girl had to keep herself warm down here somehow. “Hey,” she said after the short pause. “On the bright side, we really _didn’t_ have anything to worry about! I can’t believe we used to be _scared_ of the AceOps. _How_ many exhausted second-year students did it take to screw in that lightbulb again?”

“Four,” Marrow said dully. “On four. Clover—was gone, and I...don’t think I was trying too hard, even if Hare had actually had my back the way she was…”

May clicked her tongue. “Excuses.”

When several seconds passed without further answer, she stopped and turned to look at him.

Oh, _shit._ He’d stopped and turned to press a hand into the wall, the other clasped over his mouth as he looked down at the rough-hewn floor.

“Are…” she took a half-step toward him and flailed awkwardly for something to say. “Uh, are you okay?”

Marrow actually laughed at that, his shoulders trembling with the action. “No.” He took a deep breath. “Harriet tried to kill me, while we were escaping. She called me a _traitor_. I…I’m really not okay, no.”

May decided that it would be decidedly less than helpful if she reminded him that he was, in fact, wanted for treason. “Hey,” she said instead, “she’s the traitor here, not you. Her and the rest of them.”

Marrow’s tail was tucked tight between his legs. “Not sure that’s how it works. They’re not the ones on a wanted poster. I just…” He took a long, shuddering breath. “I wanted to do the right thing, I wanted to help people, I always wanted to be a _Huntsman,_ and I thought…I worked _so hard_ to get into the AceOps, to get them to take me seriously, and it was _all for nothing._ ”

“...You’re not the only one who bought into the propaganda,” May said, not unkindly. “But you’re here now, and Penny, and Doctor Polendina. You all saw what was happening and refused to be a part of it anymore. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I know you think I’m _stupid,_ May.” Marrow’s voice broke. “But I’m not, I knew things were...bad, no offense but I’m pretty sure I know _better than you_ just how bad things are, but I just...I thought I could make a difference, okay? I didn’t think things would…I never thought he’d just _abandon Mantle,_ or that the others would go along with it—I should have just sided with Ruby right then but instead I just _froze up_ inside, I didn’t know what else to do—and then he _surrendered to Salem,_ he called it an alliance but—and they all just acted like it was _normal!”_

May winced. She took another step toward him and awkwardly put a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah. I’m sorry, I should have left it alone. And I don’t think you’re stupid, Marrow. I...you’re right that you know what it’s like better than me, but, I _do_ know something about how it feels to give up everything you’ve ever known to do the right thing. It’s hard. Harder than anything.”

The look he shot her was irritated at first; but after a moment, his shoulders relaxed and he blinked, the tension vanishing from around his eyes.

“...Right,” he managed. “Right, you’re—you’re a Marigold, aren’t you. I mean, one of _those_ Marigolds.”

May held up a hand and wiggled it from side to side. _“Those_ Marigolds might disagree with you on that.”

“Well they can _go to hell_ and so can Ironwood,” Marrow snapped, before taking a moment to calm himself. “It’s already come to us anyway. Hell, I mean. I think this is about as close as it gets. Horde of Grimm, led by a terrifying evil lady who can’t be killed, that’s about how I pictured it.”

Marrow moved back off the wall and May removed her hand to let him. “I didn’t expect the whale,” she said.

That got him to crack a smile, even though _the whale_ was actually a terrifying death machine that they had no idea how to kill. “Right, yeah, there’s that too. Well, Ironwood and the others can bow down to Salem all they want. _I_ still remember the oath I swore, and I’d rather die on my feet trying to stop her.”

May grinned and clasped him on the shoulder again. _Fucking dork._ “We’ll make a Happy Huntress out of you yet, Marrow.”

He tilted his head to the side, considering it. “I dunno," he said in a considerably lightened tone, "I think I’m missing an essential qualification there.”

May snickered. There we go, _that’s_ the Marrow she remembered. “See, I said that too once, and _now_ look at me.”

* * *

Robyn glanced up as the door to the briefing room flew open.

Well. ‘Briefing room’. It was a dead end mining shaft with corrugated steel set into the walls halfway down the corridor for privacy. Still.

“Glad you could join us, Pipsqueak,” she drawled as Ruby Rose very literally flew into her seat, skidding slightly on the landing.

“Sorry!” Ruby squeaked, wincing sheepishly. “Weiss and Oscar are going out on a relief run, I wanted to wish them luck!”

“Knock next time,” Robyn told her mildly. “Operational security. I could have had anything projected up here.”

Ruby was a smart, conscientious kid who didn’t need to be stepped on to keep her in line. Her nod was dead serious. “I will. Sorry.”

Robyn smiled to take any sting out of it. “They’ll be fine. Is that everyone?”

“Everyone who’s coming,” said the Belladonna kid, leaning into her _definitely not girlfriend’s_ shoulder. Robyn was almost tempted to ask them to leave some space for the Brothers or at least the notion of professionalism, but fuck it, this wasn’t Atlas.

“Let’s get to it then.” Robyn flicked her gaze to Joanna, who got up and slid a piece of broken wood into slots in the steel barrier, effectively barring the door. “As you’re all aware, our attempts to access Amity Arena and call for help haven’t had a...great success rate.”

There was a snort.

“Thanks for the input, Fisticuffs.” Without pausing, Robyn continued, “I realize we haven’t made any major pushes for the tower recently; without anything having changed in the tactical situation, the risk was too great for the reward.”

Ruby sat forward. “But something’s changed?”

Robyn tapped their jury-rigged projector and stood aside, gesturing toward the sheet they’d hung from the ceiling to serve as a screen.

Several seconds and a solid kick to the projector later, the jittery image of a tundra map flickered to life.

“I’ve had contact from a young technician assigned to the Amity patrol,” she said, pulling up the image of a smiling young man to superimpose over the map. “Nathan Reed. I shook his hand.”

A ripple of interest circled the room.

“He can’t get us access, but he was able to tell me when there will be an officially unscheduled inspection of the security around the tower. More importantly, he was able to tell me _exactly_ the ID requirements we have to meet in order to get anyone in with that motorcade. I’ve already identified several possible sleeper agents among our refugees; the infiltrator will have to be an unknown civilian, no one recognizable. All we have to do is steal the electronic signature from an active ID card; we can map the signal to a blank card once we have it.”

Jaune sat forward, setting aside his untouched coffee mug where Marrow could immediately steal it. “Are you looking for volunteers?”

Awkward glances all around.

“Um,” Fiona began delicately.

“Yeah,” agreed Yang. “No offense, Jaune, but…”

“Sorry, Banana Bread. Stealth’s not your specialty,” Robyn told him kindly. “The legitimate card needs to be replaced by a fake, without the holder realizing it—otherwise, Atlas will just deactivate it remotely, and using it will blow the whole operation. Unless anyone has a reason we shouldn’t, the plan is to send May and Wags here.”

“Control and invisibility,” Jaune agreed, disappointed but approving. 

Robyn inclined her head. “No one ever needs to know we were there.”

Ruby half-raised a hand. “Uh,” she said. “Is that...a good idea? Don’t they kind of…”

“I thought you two hated each other,” agreed her sister. Blake coughed loudly into her elbow, maintaining an innocent expression.

“We’ll be fine. As long as nobody causes any _trouble,”_ Marrow said pointedly.

Oh boy.

Fiona sighed. “Oh, here we go…”

May splayed a hand over her heart. If she wore pearls, she’d have clutched them. “Are you implying I’m a _troublemaker?”_

“Of course not!” Marrow assured her, bursting with bright sincerity. “I was way past _implying_ anything.”

“Guys,” Robyn said calmly.

“Really!” May gave a dramatic, extremely fake gasp. “Well! _That’s_ rich coming from a man who committed high treason!”

Joanna stared at the ceiling. “If I walk out into the tundra,” she asked Robyn, “How long do you think it’d take for the cold to kill me?”

“I don’t think I should be seen with you,” May exclaimed.

“Well! That should be easy for both of us,” countered Marrow.

 _“Funny._ Think of a lady’s reputation!”

Yang groaned. “Guys. Time and a place.”

 _“Oh that’s rich coming from you,”_ Jaune snapped across the room. Blake snickered into her hand.

“You’ve got a _reputation_ alright,” Marrow continued, blatantly grinning.

May, who seemed to have conveniently recovered from her brief fit of the vapors, sauntered up to him across the center of the small chamber.

Robyn pinched the bridge of her nose. “Children…”

“Do I _really.”_

“You’ve committed treason too, you know,” Marrow reminded her, arms crossed, grinning down at her as she stepped into his personal space. “You committed treason yesterday!”

May smirked. “Prove it.”

“Make me.”

“Uh,” said Jaune.

 _“Wow right okay good briefing everyone come on Ruby,”_ Yang agreed in a single breath, standing and dragging the pipsqueak out with one hand over her eyes.

Robyn threw her hands in the air, but killed the projector anyway. Joanna willingly unbarred the doors.

The mass exodus was a bit of an overreaction to May and Marrow’s continuing game of chicken, Robyn thought, arms crossed and distinctly unamused as the expanded inner circle filed out. Yes, all right, it wasn’t _strictly_ necessary for May to be standing quite that close to his chest to make her point, but honestly, they were all adults here despite evidence to the contrary.

“You’re moving in three hours,” she told them, voice flat. She tapped her papers against an overturned crate to straighten them before handing them over to a beet-red Fiona, who bolted as soon as they were secured.

May’s eyes glinted. Marrow, who’d once jumped to attention whenever Robyn so much as entered a room, just smirked. Didn’t even look up. At least he had the decency to tilt his head vaguely in her direction and acknowledge that she’d spoken.

“Yes, ma’am,” he managed, before a viciously grinning May grabbed his color in an iron grip and shoved him back against the frozen wall.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is (obviously) set during volume 8, so here's the chain of events assumed to have happened between the cliffhanger and the start of the fic:
> 
> >Huntresses find Oscar in the crater, take him to their hideout  
> >Team Remnant tries some bullshit to kill the whale, it doesn't work, they too meet up at the Hoth base, everyone tries to figure out where Robyn and Qrow are  
> >The AceOps wake up and Marrow catches a lot of flack for how the RWBY fight went  
> >Ironwood fully gives into despair and joins with Salem resulting in some form of apocalyptic argument with the captive Qrow and Robyn that Marrow is present for  
> >Marrow frees Robyn and Qrow, briefly fights off Harriet and uses his semblance on her so they can all escape and regroup at the Hoth base, where there is Much Rejoicing.


End file.
